Vayetzei 5785 – Gen 28:10-29:11
What do I have if I cross ABBA and Led Zepplin? I have a dream, a stairway to heaven. In other words, I have the opening of this week’s parashah.
My internal monologue loves karaoke. When I sit down to write or think, the voice in my head inevitably starts singing.
This week, it began with ABBA’s “I Have a Dream”, hopped over to Aerosmith’s “Dream On”, and finally landed on “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella. Somewhere along the way, I lost my train of thought and had to start over.
That lapse got me thinking: what’s the connection between dreaming and singing? Both seem to unlock something deeper within us. Both help us process emotions and express what words alone cannot, but it turns out they also share surprising benefits. Dr. Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist, calls dreaming “overnight therapy.” During REM sleep, the brain is free of the chemical that triggers anxiety. In this state, emotional memories resurface, but in a calm, safe way that helps us process and heal.
Jacob’s dream comes at a turning point. Having fled in fear of his brother Esau’s anger, Jacob is alone and vulnerable. His guilt weighs heavy, and his future is uncertain. It’s in this moment, as he lies down with a stone for a pillow, that he dreams of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending.
The midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 68:2) says, “Dreams have no influence whatsoever,” yet also teaches that “no dream is without its interpretation.” The ladder, according to one interpretation, represents a bridge between the human and divine. The angels’ ascent and descent mirrors Moses climbing Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, emphasizing the covenant that Jacob’s descendants will carry forward. The ladder represents, not only a connection between heaven and earth, but also Jacob’s journey forward. His dream reassures him that his path, despite its challenges, has meaning. It’s not that his actions were perfect—they weren’t—but they were part of something larger than his fears and doubts.
But the ladder isn’t just a mystical symbol; it’s deeply personal. The dream addresses Jacob’s emotional state. The midrash suggests that it helped him process his guilt and anxiety, offering divine reassurance that God had not abandoned him. Jacob’s deception of his father and brother might have been necessary for the covenant to unfold, but it left him spiritually adrift. The dream serves as therapy—a moment where heaven reaches down to comfort earth.
The midrash continues its exploration of Jacob’s state by linking his departure to Psalm 121, which begins, “A song of ascents.” This psalm reflects Jacob’s journey, emphasizing trust in divine protection: “The Almighty is your guardian; the Almighty is your shade at your right hand.” We can, perhaps, imagine Jacob singing as he journeys, his voice echoing the ascent of the angels. Singing, much like dreaming, is a tool for emotional release and spiritual connection.
If we look for physical releases of emotional burdens, we have to consider the benefits of crying as well as singing, and our sages also picked up this idea. Bereishit Rabbah 68:4 builds on an idea that Jacob leaves Beersheba in order to find a match, and that only God is able to find a person their perfect partner by quoting “God settles the individuals in a home; He liberates prisoners in chains [bakosharot].” (Psalms 68:7) The term bakosharot is explained as “with weeping [bekhi] and with song [veshirot]. One who is willing, with song, and one who is unwilling, weeps.”
Both responses—weeping and song—appear in Jacob’s story. When he first meets Rachel, he weeps. The midrash connects this moment to Psalm 126:5: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” His tears reflect the intensity of the moment: relief, gratitude, and perhaps lingering uncertainty. He doesn’t know yet how his story with Rachel or her family will unfold, but this moment represents a step forward. These tears aren’t just emotional—they’re transformative. They mark a transition from fear and uncertainty to hope and connection.
Jacob’s life is marked by struggle—his deception of his father, his tumultuous relationships, and the loss of his beloved son Joseph. These struggles, which often appear to refute God’s message to him that he will be the father of nations, will ultimately be assuaged through his reconciliations and reunifications with his loved ones, both with Esau and later with Joseph in Egypt.
Jacob’s son Joseph is the man most associated with dreams in the Torah, but (to bastardise a Beatles lyric), he’s not the only one. Perhaps this motif of dreaming, and it being related to singing, is there to demonstrate to us that we have the tools for healing within us. We are all able to lie down and dream, we can all raise our voices in song. Our anxieties about the future often don’t align with what actually happens. These stories remind us to approach uncertainty with an open heart, recognizing that we can’t predict everything. Both dreaming and singing allow us to navigate life’s ups and downs with greater resilience.
And you know what they say – Any dream will do…
Emily Carp, LBC rabbinical student
The views expressed in this D’var Torah do not necessarily reflect the position of Leo Baeck College.